Weekly Worship Casting Crowns - Start Right Here

I love Casting Crowns.  For Real.  This is a new released (released July 24th).  It's got a great message!

2020 Weekly Photos #31

This week was a little wonky - not a whole lot going on. 

Saturday - Last Saturday . .. it was so long ago.  My mom treated us to a late lunch/picnic and Nate did some swimming at the lake.  I had my weekly family zoom call. 

Sunday - I don't think we did much - I think we just hung out at home. 

Monday - It was so hot.  Just hot.  One of our AC units was on the fritz (but is now working since it isn't as hot out!!) and we were about dying.  My mom came over for dinner.  Darryl grilled some amazing pork chops. 

A picture of my cat -- just because :-) 

Tuesday - it was still too hot to think.  

Wednesday - Darryl and I did some cleaning in the basement (I know, thrilling).  

Darryl and Josh started this game of Scrabble on Sunday, I think.  They finally finished it on Wednesday. 

Thursday - We went to my mom's for a great dinner.  When we got home the boys decided they wanted to get the ladder out and look in the attic. 

Friday - Today I planned to get my fridge ready to leave the house.  I even took some photos.  Then I talked to the store to conform the delivery time on Saturday only to find out that our fridge has been delayed.  The new expected delivery date??? August 29th.  For real. 

So my old fridge is sticking around, broken, for a few more weeks.  Which also means that menu post that appeared yesterday (Friday) is obsolete HA!  Oh well!  

Weekly Menu

 Guess what?  My fridge comes tomorrow!  Guess what else?  The AC window unit that cools off the end of the house with the kitchen died a few weeks ago so the kitchen is ALWAYS hot and makes me not want to be in it HA!  For real.  We will replace it next spring but for the rest of this season, it's just warm in half the house.  I'm still very excited to get my fridge and have cold water once again (the cooler's aren't the same!)  Plus to have leftovers, and cold fruit, fresh veggies and more.  For at least a few weeks, I'm trying to avoid meals with long oven times since that really heats up the kitchen.
Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - This is our weekly "eat out" night.  We all enjoy this fun outing.

Saturday - Pork Chops on the grill again along with some corn and blueberry struesal muffins.

Sunday -  This is a throwback to our favorite camping meal that we haven't gotten to enjoy since we aren't camping this summer it appears.  I'm going to marinate some steak and have steak kabobs.  Maybe we will even try some veggie kabobs too (or I'll cook those inside)

Monday - Today we are heading off on an adventure with Josh and Nate and my mom.  Where?  To Lake Michigan of course!

Tuesday - Pork Loin, Baked Beans, and Veggies

Wednesday - Today we are heading to my mother-in-laws to return her coolers and spend some time on her lake as well.  Trying to enjoy these last few weeks of easy day trips before school takes over our schedule.

Thursday - Chicken, Mac and Cheese, and Veggies.

Five Months Later

Five months ago our state went into lockdown due to Covid-19.  It seems a little surreal thinking back to March.

This was our last photo before things changed.  It's weird thinking back to that Thursday.  There were already a couple of cases in Michigan but they were in Detroit.  We had a family day - both Nate and Darryl had a doctor's appointment with the same ENT so we all went together, all went into the waiting room, and all went into the same exam room.  We joked about the nurse who was sick with a cold (the same symptoms we were checked for and told we couldn't come if we had them!).  From there, we went to lunch at Wolfgang''s - which was full of people.  (Including one guy who was coughing up a lung at the table next to us).  We also drove all around downtown Grand Rapids enjoying all the sights around us.  We got home in time for Darryl and the boys to all take Dash to the vet for his annual check up.  They all went, all went inside, and all went into the exam room.  We had our plans ready for Friday school the next day - the last day of the semester.  It was a very, very, normal day. 

By midnight, everything had changed.  Schools were closed, our Co-op was cancelled, store hours changed, it was just surreal.  If you would have asked me then if I thought we'd still be facing this battle 5 months later, I probably would have told you no.  Like most of us, I thought that by summer the virus would be gone and we'd be good to go but instead, things are just as tough as they were 5 months ago.  I've learned to move through it easier but it is still there. 

* We wear masks into any building and when space is crowded

* We avoid indoor activities or outdoor activities with crowds

* We do not eat at sit down restaurants

* We haven't been back to in person church since March 
* Our Co-Op is cancelled for the fall

There have been TP shortages, Lysol shortages and lack of hand sanitizer.  Shelves at the grocery store have come up empty and gas prices dropped super low at one point.

Sometimes it starts to feel like things won't go back to normal but in studying past pandemics guess what?  Eventually things return to normal.  So for now, we just do the best we can to stay healthy and, well, stay sane :-) 

What We are Eating Wednesdays

 Without a fridge, cooking has been simple but I did try a couple of new things this past week. 

1) My brother, Ken, introduced us to this new marinade that is so good on pork chops.  One of the great things about it is that you don't marinade the meat for very long - 20 minutes at the most.  That means you can throw the meat in the marinate, get the charcoal going and, by the time the grill is ready, the meat is ready too!  

2) It was so hot on Monday my kitchen was boiling (our AC unit that cools that end of the house died so it is HOT).  I had corn to cook and did not want to have it boiling on the stove.  Instead, I decided to try the cooler method.  I heated water in the microwave to save on boiling it on the stove (not the faster way for sure HA!).  Place the corn in a very clean cooler, add boiling water to cover the corn, and let it sit in the water for 20 minutes.  Technically you can drain the water and the corn will stay hot for quite awhile.  I did not drain the water since we would be eating it right at dinner.  I told no one I did this at dinner just to see what everyone said.  It was interesting because the kids noticed it was different.  The corn tasted fine and it was super easy to eat (the kernels just popped right off as you ate the corn) but it wasn't as hot as when it's boiled and it just was . . .. different.  I'm not sure I would do the cooler version again unless I was feeding a crowd.  

Our Anniversary Trip

 I shared a few photos in my "Week in Photos" post on Saturday but I wanted to go into more detailed about our amazing day trip for our anniversary.  

In planning for this day away one of my main goals was doing things and finding things that bring joy to my soul.  That focus alone brought so much peace about this get away!  We started our journey with a stop at a favorite coffee house right in our town - Sozo's.  We both got our favorite coffee drink along with something from their bakery.  (They have amazing homemade bagels!) For me, a "Zebra, Hot with Whipped Cream" warms my soul with the first sip!  (For real, I get a contented smile on my face with that first drink). After picking up our drinks, we headed north to start our trek. 

Our first stop in our journey was in Lundington.  This is such an adorable town.  We drove to the city beach, which is huge, and made the mile hike out to the light house and back.  Lake Michigan is my happy place.  If I could, I would head to the shores of Lake Michigan on a weekly basis just because it centers me and brings me peace.  

Look at all those minnows!  Yes, the water is really that clear!  It's just beautiful. 

From the beach to the light house it is about 1/2 mile so yes, we really did walk a mile :-)  When we started, there was a nice breeze but by the time we headed back, it was HOT!  We even got a little sun kissed from our walk.  The lake was calm on this day or we would not have made the hike out as the pier gets slippery when the waves are crashing.  

After our hike, we got back in the car and headed to our lunch spot.  It ended up being in a totally different spot then we thought it was in but it was an amazing drive.  It brought us past this Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant.  It drains water from Lake Michigan under this bridge into a huge reservoir on the left during the day. At night, all the water is drained back out and it creates lots of power to be used by the people in the area.  It's so breathtaking, actually, but we came upon it so unexpectedly that this was the beset photo. 

We stopped (and parked on the side of the road - the only parking for this place- and got our lunch at Bortell's Fisheries.  They deep fry everything.  This place came highly recommended and it didn't disappoint.  We both got the cod dinners and then added a 1/2 pound of shrimp.  It was so good - as long as you like fish :-) 

There is no place to eat at the fishery but they direct you just down the road to this little park and it is a true gem.  We dreamed it was our back yard as we sat at a picnic table to enjoy our meals AND this amazing view of Lake Michigan.  

There was a swing that we enjoyed too.  We spend more time enjoying this little park then anything else all day.  It was fun to dream of living this close to Lake Michigan.  It is so peaceful and relaxing to sit near the water.  It's calming - more calming than anything else - at least to me! 

After relaxing at the county park for awhile, we hit the road again and made it our goal to drive on roads with as many views of Lake Michigan as we could.  That allowed us to drive by some beautiful beach homes and get breathtaking views of Lake Michigan along with some great inland lakes too.  As we drove along we drove through Silver Lake Sand Dunes area, stopped for some Ice Cream and enjoyed the views of the dunes on Silver Lake.  

We stopped at Mears State Park to see this light house which sits in the sand right on the shore of Lake Michigan.  The beach is out of the way and so pretty.  (We found some new beaches to take the boys too in the future!) We did hear that this beach is a favorite for viewing sunsets so the closer it gets to that time, the busier it gets.  

We continued our trek along roads that kept us close to the lakeshore and came upon this place called Cherry Point Farm and Market. We picked up some homemade jam before taking a walk out to the Lavender Labyrinth.  I've always wanted to see one and the concept here is so neat.  The sad part is that they lost all of their lavender in 2019 during the polar vortex and had to replant in the spring of 2019.  It will take a few years for it to get back to it's old glory. 

The Herb garden in the center is just full of flowers and herbs and it is beautiful.  The idea behind a garden like this as well as the lavender is it is suppose to offer a calmness and peace to each person that enters.  Many will use it as a prayer circle as they walk through the circles of lavender.  While it is peaceful, it doesn't compare to the Lake Michigan Shoreline.  

As we left that farm, we were headed onto the next town, came over a hill to this!  It was stunning . . . breathtaking . .. .like nothing I have ever seen!  

We even took a selfie (which is really hard with a big digital camera HA!)  The sunflowers were just so bright and cheery.  We learned something new.  So, when sunflowers are still young and waiting to bloom, they turn their heads toward the sun to constantly gather life from the sun.  Once the sunflowers bloom (like those in the fields) they all face East because that where is they get the most sunlight.  The farmer telling us this said, "If you ever get lost and come upon a field of sunflowers, you will know what direction you are going because sunflowers always face East!"  Pretty cool! 

We

This deer was just munching away on some grass on this front lawn and let us stop and take his photo. This was just as we were entering Montague and Whitehall.  While driving down one of the roads outside of town,  we found a new little subdivision with lots for sale so we decided to stop and look.  We did find the perfect lot on Lake Michigan for our dream home that we would buy in an instant . . .. if it wasn't out of our price range!  We can dream, right? 

We ended our adventure at our favorite beach - Muskegon.  Sunsets on Lake Michigan are hard to get and this was no exception.  Even on a day that had zero clouds, as it nears sunset, the clouds tend to move in and block those last few moments of sunset.  It is still beautiful though - granted any day on the lake is a good day. 

It was almost 10:00 by this point so between the time and the covid-19 restrictions we were limited on dinner choices so we picked up Arby's and ended up with some amazing chicken sandwiches which were super hot and so tasty . .. or maybe we were just super hungry HA!

Did I find joy throughout the day?  The answer is yes.  We had a great day being together, traveling down roads we had never driven on, finding out of the way places to enjoy, and taking in many views of our favorite lake.  It was a blessed, peaceful day. 

Sunday Worship - Reba McEntire - Back To God (Official Video)

This is a little more unique and I'm sharing it more because you just can't go wrong with Reba and Lauren Daigle singing together.